Where Women Go for Trophy Import Answers and Services

So, you’ve enjoyed the hunting adventure of a lifetime overseas and taken a spectacular trophy that you’ve posted on all your social media platforms and shared with Women Go Hunting. Now what? How do you get your trophy home? Someone told you to ship it by air. Someone else said to ship by sea cargo. Will it come straight to your house? Do you just pick it up at the airport?

Everyone who has hunted internationally has asked these and many other questions about bringing their trophies home. Many are surprised to learn hunting trophies are treated as wildlife products regulated by numerous government agencies abroad and at home. Trophy shipments must follow specific export and import regulations, and they require documentation, declarations, inspections, and more. Helping you navigate those requirements as seamlessly as possible is what Coppersmith LLC’s Hunting Trophy Division does.

Coppersmith is a Silver Level sponsor of Women Go Hunting and the Ladies Mix & Mingle event to be held at the SCI 2026 Convention in Nashville, TN, this coming February. For more than 30 years, Coppersmith has helped hunters bring home their trophies from all around the world. Now one of Coppersmith’s Hunting Trophy coordinators, Lisa Gingerich-Olson, is working with Women Go Hunting to help women better understand how they can ensure their trophies get home without any glitches.

Gingerich-Olson is Coppersmith’s Chicago branch manager and has been helping hunters with their shipments for 18 years.

“At Coppersmith we prep our clients with an informational toolbox before they even leave for their hunting adventure,” she says. “Before they shoot their first animal, they are already prepared to get it home.”

A hunter herself, Gingerich-Olson discovered Women Go Hunting after her first trip to Africa and knew she could make a difference for women in that space.

“Through Women Go Hunting, I want to make sure every woman hunter out there is armed with the necessary knowledge and confidence to arrange trophy shipments with their outfitters and export agents, no matter where in the world they hunt.”

Gingerich-Olson is not only a WGH participant, but she is also treasurer of SCI’s Lake Superior Chapter and represents Coppersmith at chapter events across the US and at the Annual SCI Convention. She is constantly interacting with hunters (men and women), answering their trophy import questions and helping them plan for their next importation, whether it’s a CITES species requiring import permits (such as elephant or argali), a baboon required to undergo treatment by a USDA approved taxidermist upon importation, or a shipment for a family of multiple hunters. Whatever the question you might have, she’s heard it and can help.

Gingerich-Olson did not come from a hunting family. She learned about hunting’s contribution to conservation on the job and became fascinated. But like many women, she did not know how to go about getting into it. Then she met the man she would marry, a lifelong hunter. He immediately took her shooting and planned to take her bear hunting.

“Suddenly, I was scared to death,” she confesses. “Here I was, 58 years old and just now learning to hunt. I wondered if it was too late to get into it.”

So, she sought the perspective of an experienced woman hunter that she knew. “Cindy,” who became her hunting mentor, reminded Gingerich-Olson that she had not started hunting until age 52.

“You are never too old,” she told Gingerich-Olson. “If you have a passion for it, then pursue it. But learn to do it the right way.”

So, Gingerich-Olson put the time into training and practice. She wanted to be able to put her quarry down with one shot. That’s exactly what she did on her honeymoon to Africa when she shot her sable. Now, every hunting season finds her confidently stalking through the woods or in the bush.

“Don’t let self-doubt or fear stop you from going hunting or doing anything else you want to accomplish,” Gingerich-Olson encourages. “It’s never too late, and you can find the way. I’m glad to be a part of Women Go Hunting, where all women can go to find the support they need.”

Be sure to meet with Gingerich Olson at Coppersmith’s booth (#635) during the SCI Convention this coming February 18-21, 2026, and at the WGH Ladies Mix & Mingle on Saturday February 21st at the Omni Hotel, right across from the Music City Convention Center. You can also call Gingerich-Olson at 847-437-1500, ext. 246; or send her an email at [email protected]. Let her know you heard about her through Women Go Hunting!

Thank you to Coppersmith LLC Hunting Trophy for sponsoring Women Go Hunting!